Screen magic is what they called the chemisrty Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall brought into this 1946 classic. With a trenchcoat and fedora, Bogart picks up the role of private investigator Phillip Marlowe and takes the viewer on a ride of murder and deceit in the dark L.A. underworld.

Marlowe is hired by General Sternwood (Charles Waldron) to investigate the gambling debt his daughter, Carmen (Martha Vickers), has with A.G. Geiger. The plot thickens when Marlowe finds Geiger dead at the feet of a doped up Carmen. In the book she's sitting there nude, part of a pornography ring. But given the restrictions of film-making in the 40's she is, of course, fully clothed. The pornography is simply alluded to by a camera and the later mention of her picture. This is simply one example as other subtleties abound, but were artfully worked into the film to fit the times.

There is an ever-growing question of trust and love with Carmen's older sister, Vivian (Bacall), who becomes one of the focal points of Marlowe's investigation. She's a frequent gambler at Eddie Mars' night club and Eddie Mars just happened to own the house Geiger was murdered at. There's also the question of where Mars' wife disappeared to and Vivian just may know where she's at. There's a lot of plot crammed into a short period of time, but it's not as confusing as some have made it to be.

The DVD version has an interesting B side that includes a 1945 pre-release version that was shown to soldiers overseas. This version had less of Lauren Bacall and more plot pieces missing from the theatrical release (Marlowe finding Geiger's keys is an example - in the theatrical version he just suddenly has them).

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